Get sterilised and win a Nano

MEN with dreams of owning a Nano car can now actually hope to get one free of cost! All that they need to do is undergo sterilisation and hope it proves to be their lucky charm. That is the carrot dangled by the Bangalore urban district health officials to get more male participation in the ongoing mass sterilisation campaign.

Interestingly, local MLAs have turned good Samaritans for the cause by sponsoring a Nano car and five motorcycles which have been put on offer through a lucky draw for all male participants who subject themselves to vasectomy surgery. The camp, organised from July 11 to July 24, is part of the Population Stabilisation Week.

Although the sterilisation programme is State-wide, these offers are limited only to Bangalore urban district. The district officials hit upon the novel idea of providing additional incentive since they were finding it difficult to encourage men to undergo non-srugical vasectomy (NSV) even with an incentive of Rs 1,100 provided by the Centre government.

According to Dr M Thim­mappa, Bangalore urban district health officer (DHO), the new initiative is expected to boost NSV cases to 300.

The district conducted 697 NSV cases last year, with male sterilisation accounting for only about two per cent of the total sterilisations.

“We routinely hold sterilisation camps once every few months in the district. However, a majority of the participants are women. We want more men to come forward since it is complication-free and they can go to work the next day itself,” explained Thimmappa.

While the health department will shell out the cash incentive allotted by the Centre government, the local MLAs have pitched in to sponsor the additional gifts. Dasarahalli MLA S Muniraju has sponsored the Na­no car, which will be given to one lucky winner.

When women undergo ste­r­ilisation, they have to take re­st for a week. This not only causes inconvenience to her family but could also lead to co­­mplications since it is an invasive surgery.

Two motorcycles will be reserved for one male and one female health worker, who br­ing at least 10 NSV cases. Even the zilla panchayat president of Bangalore urban dist­r­ict has come forward by off­e­r­ing Rs 1,000 each to five he­alth workers, who motivate and bring more number of cases. The lucky draw and prizes will be announced on July 25 and the gifts will be distributed on July 28, informed Dr Th­im­m­a­ppa.

But wooing men with gifts in addition to the government’s cash incentive is not new to the district. Last year, the district gave a quartz watch (Rs 315), a steel plate (Rs 110) and a steel glass (Rs 36) along with Rs 1,100 incentive to each person after undergoing the NSV procedure at KR Puram Hospital. The camp created a record in the district’s history by conducting NSV on 72 men.

Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu district was the first district in the country to win over men by luring them with Nano car, moto­rcy­cles, TV sets and mixer-grinders.

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